Monday, October 24, 2011

Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. - Senior Sam Ryder (Longwood, Fla.) shot three under par 69 for the second day in a row and cruised to a seven-stroke victory in this weekend's Mission Inn Classic at Mission Inn Resort's El Campeon course. Ryder finished at five under par 211 for 54 holes, claiming his fourth career title and second in a row at El Campeon. The Hatters finished seventh as a team.

Ryder, who tied for second in this event last fall and then won the Mission Inn Spring Fling in March 2011, continued his string of success in Lake County with a seven-stroke win over FGCU's Brandon Pena. Alex Medinis of FGCU was third at +4. Ryder also owns victories in the 2009 Bethune-Cookman Fall Invitational and 2010 Jacksonville State Young Oil/Grub Mart Intercollegiate.

Senior Micah Jacobsen (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) was the next highest Hatter finisher, tying for 25th at 18 over par after a final round 77. Blake Snellings (Atlanta, Ga.) shot 78 on Sunday with senior Andrew Schiano (Orlando, Fla.) and freshman Matt Taylor (Naples, Fla.) coming in with 80 and 83, respectively. Schiano tied for 36th at +22, Snellings was 45th at +28 and Taylor tied for 46th at +31.

FGCU shot three under par 285 in the final round to finish 28 over par for the tournament and win by nine strokes over Loyola University Maryland. Tournament host St. John's finished third at +40 with Northwood (+46), Johnson & Wales (+47) and Bethune-Cookman (+54) all edging the Hatters (+59). Also competing were Embry-Riddle (+68), Florida A&M (+87) and Savannah State (+95).